Higher Childhood Vitamin D Dose May Cut Risk for Later Psychiatric Problems

WEDNESDAY, May 24, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Higher doses of vitamin D₃ supplementation up to age 2 years are associated with a decreased risk for internalizing problems in later childhood, according to a study published online May 19 in JAMA Network Open.

Samuel Sandboge, M.D., Ph.D., from the University of Tampere in Finland, and colleagues conducted a secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial of 346 children to assess the impact of high-dose (1,200 IU) versus standard-dose (400 IU) vitamin D₃ supplementation during the first two years of life on psychiatric symptoms at ages 6 to 8 years.

The researchers found that clinically significant internalizing problems occurred in 5.6 percent of participants in the 1,200-IU group versus 11.8 percent in the 400-IU group (odds ratio, 0.40), when adjusting for sex, birth season, maternal depressive symptoms at birth, and parental single status at follow-up. Among 48 children in the 400-IU group with maternal 25(OH)D concentrations <30 ng/mL, higher internalizing problems scores were seen compared with children in the 1,200-IU group, including 44 children with maternal 25(OH)D concentrations <30 ng/mL (adjusted mean difference, 0.49) and 91 children with maternal concentrations >30 ng/mL (adjusted mean difference, 0.37). No differences were seen between the groups for externalizing or total problems.

“This should be interpreted cautiously, however, and be considered only as hypothesis generating given the absence of interactions between maternal 25(OH)D level and supplementation status,” the authors write.

One author reported receiving grants from the Novo Nordisk Foundation.